1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stabilizing apparatus with extensible legs for a computer system tower unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal computers are generally comprised of three physical parts. First, there is the main box, referred to as the system unit, that holds most of the computer components. Then there is the keyboard used for data entry. Lastly, there is the display screen. A typical arrangement of a personal computer is to have the keyboard placed in front of the system unit and the display screen perched on top of the system unit. Such an arrangement requires a considerable amount of surface area on a desk or table top. In an effort to minimize the desk surface area required for a personal computer, computer users began standing the system units vertically on the floor next to their desks or tables. The personal computer industry responded by designing system units specifically for standing vertically on the floor, which units are called tower units.
With the advent of system tower units designed to stand vertically on the floor alongside a desk came the problem of vertical stability of these generally relatively narrow tower units, because the units typically are very roughly 6" wide, 17" deep and 21" tall. One method of improving the vertical stability was to attach fixed feet or a base plate to the bottom of the unit which extended beyond the width of the tower unit on both sides of the unit, thus increasing the force required to overturn the unit. This was the simplest approach and was adopted by many manufacturers. This design did have the disadvantage of increasing the difficulty of packaging the unit for shipment or requiring the installation of the feet by the purchaser.
Another method was to attach a bar across one end of the base and affix a rotating plate near the other end of the tower base, the plate being the same thickness as the bar. The plate could be aligned with the depth of the tower unit for shipment and could be rotated approximately ninety degrees in use, enabling the plate to extend beyond the width of the unit on both sides of the unit. This latter method improved the stability of the tower when the plate was rotated perpendicularly to the depth of the tower.
Although both methods improved the stability of the tower in a free-standing floor location, the extension of the feet on both sides of the tower unit did not allow the unit to be located very close to a desk or other article which extended to the floor. The tower unit had to be spaced away the distance the feet extended beyond the side of the unit if the stabilizing feature was to be utilized at all. In those instances where it is desired to locate the tower unit very close to a desk or other article which extends to the floor, which occur more often than not, a support is needed which extends only on one side of the tower unit so that the other side can be placed close to the wall or desk.